Slideshow: Service Robots Can Do Most Anything

To many of us, service robots often mean robots that assist the elderly, or help with the rehabilitation of medical patients. But the range of services that robots can perform is extremely broad. Some are involved in agricultural tasks that are either dangerous or rough on humans, such as weed-pulling and harvesting crops. Others collect trash and garbage, or work in recycling to sort waste from usable, reclaimable materials.

In security and law enforcement, there are simple robots that autonomously "walk" a beat looking for sensor readings that raise an alarm, as well as telepresence robots that can give disabled police or veterans jobs as remote patrol officers. Other robots, shaped like fish, swim in schools to detect polluting chemicals in seawater, and one robot is being developed to go into orbit as a combined mobile gas station and spacecraft mechanic.

Click on the photo below to check them out.

Robotic fish that swim in schools and cooperate using artificial intelligence to detect and identify pollution in seawater have been created by SHOAL, an EU-funded group of researchers led by BMT Group. The goal is to cut the time required to detect pollution in ports and other aquatic areas from weeks to seconds, using the robotic fishes' chemical sensors for onsite analysis. The robots can avoid obstacles, determine where to look for pollution using mapping, locate its source, maintain a maximum communication distance from the rest of the school, send data underwater back to a base station, and return to it for recharging. (Source: BMT Group)

One interesting chalenge for all of the powder feeding 3D printing systems in outer space will be the lack of gravity to feed the powder. And just imagine the mess if some of that metal powder gets loose in a zero-gravity room. The only worse thing I can imagine is a laser printer cartridge in a zero gravity location having a spill failure. What a mess that would be.

BUT possibly a metal printing system could use a wire feed, like the welders. What an interesting possibility.

William, this collaboration between 3D Systems and Intel, aimed at lower-cost scanning tools, may help with the software issue: http://www.3dsystems.com/press-releases/3d-systems-further-democratize-physical-photography-intel-corporation

Robots that do repair of various kinds have been around for some time, but to date, none of them do 3D printing. One that might do so in the future in space is being designed in collaboration with NASA, which we reported here:

Ann, I did investigate some of the better, I think, 3D scanners about 8 years ago. At that time they cost more than quite a few of the 3D printers that I have seen prices for. Not as much as the good ones that print metal, but still quite expensive. And one would still need to add all of the internal details and features.

Now I am thinking and visualizing a robot that has a tool hand for 3D printing so that it can do repairs. Robotic production welders have been around a long time, that was an early robot task. But a more mobile service robot that could provide a 3D printing function could be quite the service tool.

William, interesting point. I think a related issue may be 3D scanning software, correct? In any case, perhaps you should talk to Cabe--he's our design software guy, and has written quite a bit about 3D design and scanning software. Check it out.

Ann, the one very big limitation of 3D printing is that it takes a 3D design drawing of some kind. The classic and more common 3-views are no longer enough, at least I am not aware of any 3D printer that can work from a multiple view drawing. That puts folks like me in a real bind. I simply have not had the time available to become proficient at 3D design drawing and design ing. I can certainly visualize a three dimensional design in my head, and usually see it very well in my mind. But producing that object in a single 3D drawing suitable for the printer is a different task completely. It is even worse for those with Autocad experience.

How abouta robot that can convert 3 views to a 3D drawing suitable for printing?

You're welcome, William. I was surprised, myself, at the diversity of what service robots can do and what they're being used for. And that's a good point about the effects of 3D printing on component costs, especially in the professional service sector where volumes are lower than the personal and domestic sector. We discussed those differences here http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=258622

Ann, thanks indeed for the interesting post. It certainly is true that the potential realm of robotic service applications is primarily limited by imagination, although some applications may never be practical, even if they are possible. That will be the challenge for quite a while, since the advances in 3D printing keep lowering the costs of making complex parts. The new developments will provide a source ofr future articles for quite a long time, it appears.

It won't be too much longer and hardware design, as we used to know it, will be remembered alongside the slide rule and the Karnaugh map. You will need to move beyond those familiar bits and bytes into the new world of software centric design.

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